Paul’s Last Journey to Jerusalem
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and before he stepped on board the ship, they knelt side by side upon
the shore and prayed, he for them, and they for him.
Pursuing their journey southward, the travelers arrived at Caesarea,
and “entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one
of the seven, and abode with him.” Here Paul tarried until the very
eve of the feast. These few peaceful, happy days were the last days
of perfect freedom which he was for a long time to enjoy. Before he
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should enter upon the stormy scenes that awaited him at Jerusalem,
the Lord graciously refreshed his spirit with this season of rest and
happy communion.
Philip the evangelist was bound to Paul by ties of the deepest
sympathy. A man of clear discernment and sterling integrity, Philip
had been the first to break away from the bondage of Jewish prejudice,
and thus had helped prepare the way for the apostle’s work. It was
Philip who preached the gospel to the Samaritans; it was Philip who
had the courage to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch. For a time the
history of these two workers had been closely intertwined. It was the
violent persecution of Saul the Pharisee that had scattered the church
at Jerusalem, and destroyed the effectiveness of the organization of the
seven deacons. The flight from Jerusalem had led Philip to change his
manner of labor, and resulted in his pursuing the same calling to which
Paul gave his life. Precious hours were these that Paul and Philip spent
in each other’s society; thrilling were the memories that they recalled
of the days when the light which had shone upon the face of Stephen
upturned to Heaven as he suffered martyrdom, flashed in its glory upon
Saul the persecutor, bringing him, a helpless suppliant, to the feet of
Jesus.
Soon after the apostle’s arrival at Caesarea, the prophet Agabus
came down from Judea. He had been warned by the Holy Spirit, of the
fate which awaited Paul, and in the symbolic manner of the ancient
prophets he loosened the apostle’s girdle, and with it bound his own
hands and feet, saying, “So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man
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that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles.” The companions of Paul had been aware that his visit to
Jerusalem would be attended with great peril; but they had not foreseen
the full extent of the danger. Now apprehension had become certainty;
and to the perils to be encountered from the Jews were added the
horrors of a Roman imprisonment. They earnestly entreated Paul to